Drilling at the company’s wholly owned area intersected multiple coal seams up to 6.4m thick in a 128m sequence of Permian sediments. One hole had a cumulative thickness of 28.5m of coal.

The discovery is about 50km south of the Ashford Coking Coal Project, operated by Northern Energy and in which Renison holds a 50% interest. Northern Energy is currently conducting a 7000m-drill program at Ashford to verify exploration results of previous tenement holders.

Renison said the results indicated the coal sequences were geologically similar to those at Ashford, with up to approximately 150m of coal-bearing sediments intersected beneath the basalt cover.

Managing director Richard Seville said fundamental geological exploration techniques had been applied to an area not previously considered prospective for coal.

"The company was targeting a single seam in this area, but to come up with a multi-seam package is a very pleasant surprise," he said.

"The area drilled to date is only a small part of the exploration licences. The company will progressively test the potential of other nearby areas prior to developing the strategy for the area as a whole," he said.